1.
Nicollet Park
–
Nicollet Park is a former baseball ground located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The ground was home to the minor league Minneapolis Millers of the Western League, during its first season it was officially known as Wright Field, named for one of baseballs founding fathers, Harry Wright. The wood stadium was replaced by a steel and concrete stadium in 1912, the ballpark was on a small block bounded by Nicollet Avenue on the east, 31st Street on the south, Blaisdell Avenue on the west and Lake Street on the north in the present-day Lyndale neighborhood. Home plate was in the southwest corner, a small ticket office building with a Spanish-style roof stood outside the right field corner, at the Nicollet-31st intersection. Joe Hauser hit 69 homers for the Millers in 1933, ted Williams also made a bit of a splash here in 1938, on his way up to the major leagues, registering 43 round-trippers to lead the league. Willie Mays was enjoyed by the Minneapolis fans for only a month or so in 1951 before the parent club New York Giants brought the young ballplayer to the big leagues. The series went the distance of 7 games, and the finale was a win for the Millers in what was also the final game at Nicollet Park. In 1956 the Millers moved to Metropolitan Stadium in the suburb of Bloomington, the park also held early National Football League games as the Minneapolis Marines and Minneapolis Red Jackets played home games there during the 1920s. In 1944 the Minneapolis Millerettes of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League called Nicollet Park home, Nicollet Park was also the place that the cereal Wheaties was first advertised. Augsburg Colleges football team played their games at Nicollet from 1946 to 1950. The New York Giants and Green Bay Packers played a game on August 29,1948 at Nicollet Park. The ballpark sites current occupants include a location of Wells Fargo Bank. There is a plaque detailing the history, near the drive-up window which is positioned near what was once the center field corner. A condominium building is on the front of Lake Street with a Hennepin County Medical Center clinic. Baseball in Minnesota, The Definitive History, Minnesota Historical Society Press,2006, before the Dome, Nodin Press,1993, edited by David Anderson. On to Nicollet, The Glory and Fame of the Minneapolis Millers, Nodin Press,1988, ballparks of North America, McFarland & Company,1989, by Michael Benson. Green Cathedrals, SABR,1986, and Addison-Wesley,1992, by Phil Lowry

2.
National Football League
–
The National Football League is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference. The NFL is one of the four professional sports leagues in North America. The NFLs 17-week regular season runs from the week after Labor Day to the week after Christmas, with each team playing 16 games, the NFL was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association before renaming itself the National Football League for the 1922 season. The NFL agreed to merge with the American Football League in 1966, and the first Super Bowl was held at the end of that season, the merger was completed in 1970. Today, the NFL has the highest average attendance of any sports league in the world and is the most popular sports league in the United States. S. The NFLs executive officer is the commissioner, who has authority in governing the league. The team with the most NFL championships is the Green Bay Packers with thirteen, the current NFL champions are the New England Patriots, who defeated the Atlanta Falcons 34–28 in Super Bowl LI. Another meeting held on September 17,1920 resulted in the renaming of the league to the American Professional Football Association, the league hired Jim Thorpe as its first president, and consisted of 14 teams. Only two of these teams, the Decatur Staleys and the Chicago Cardinals, remain, the first event occurred on September 26,1920 when the Rock Island Independents defeated the non-league St. Paul Ideals 48–0 at Douglas Park. On October 3,1920, the first full week of league play occurred, the following season resulted in the Chicago Staleys controversially winning the title over the Buffalo All-Americans. In 1922, the APFA changed its name to the National Football League, in 1932, the season ended with the Chicago Bears and the Portsmouth Spartans tied for first in the league standings. This method had used since the leagues creation in 1920. The league quickly determined that a game between Chicago and Portsmouth was needed to decide the leagues champion. Playing with altered rules to accommodate the playing field, the Bears won the game 9–0. Fan interest in the de facto championship game led the NFL, beginning in 1933, the 1934 season also marked the first of 12 seasons in which African Americans were absent from the league. The de facto ban was rescinded in 1946, following public pressure, the NFL was always the foremost professional football league in the United States, it nevertheless faced a large number of rival professional leagues through the 1930s and 1940s. Rival leagues included at least three separate American Football Leagues and the All-America Football Conference, on top of regional leagues of varying caliber. Three NFL teams trace their histories to these leagues, including the Los Angeles Rams

3.
Green Bay Packers
–
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League as a club of the leagues National Football Conference North division. They are also the third-oldest franchise in the NFL, organized and it is the only non-profit, community-owned major league professional sports team based in the United States. Home games are played at Lambeau Field, the Packers are the last vestige of small town teams common in the NFL during the 1920s and 1930s. Founded in 1919 by Earl Curly Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun, between 1919 and 1920, the Packers competed against other semi-pro clubs from around Wisconsin and the Midwest. They joined the American Professional Football Association, the forerunner of todays NFL, the Packers have won 13 league championships, the most in NFL history, with nine NFL titles before the Super Bowl era and four Super Bowl victories. They won the first two Super Bowls in 1967 and 1968 and were the only NFL team to defeat the American Football League prior to the AFL–NFL merger. The Vince Lombardi Trophy is named after the Packers head coach of the same name and their two further Super Bowl wins came in 1997 and 2011. The Packers are long-standing adversaries of the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, and Detroit Lions, the Bears–Packers rivalry is one of the oldest in NFL history, dating back to 1921. The Green Bay Packers were founded on August 11,1919 by former high-school football rivals Earl Curly Lambeau, Lambeau solicited funds for uniforms from his employer, the Indian Packing Company. He was given $500 for uniforms and equipment, on the condition that the team be named for its sponsor, the Green Bay Packers have played in their original city longer than any other team in the NFL. On August 27,1921, the Packers were granted a franchise in the new pro football league that had been formed the previous year. Financial troubles plagued the team and the franchise was forfeited within the year, before Lambeau found new financial backers and these backers, known as the Hungry Five, formed the Green Bay Football Corporation. After a near-miss in 1927, Lambeaus squad claimed the Packers first NFL title in 1929 with an undefeated 12–0–1 campaign, among the many impressive accomplishments of these years was the Packers streak of 29 consecutive home games without defeat, an NFL record which still stands. The arrival of end Don Hutson from Alabama in 1935 gave Lambeau, credited with inventing pass patterns, Hutson would lead the league in receptions eight seasons and spur the Packers to NFL championships in 1936,1939 and 1944. An iron man, Hutson played both ways, leading the league in interceptions as a safety in 1940, Hutson claimed 18 NFL records when he retired in 1945, many of which still stand. In 1951, his number 14 was the first to be retired by the Packers, after Hutsons retirement, Lambeau could not stop the Packers slide. He purchased a large lodge near Green Bay for team members, rockwood Lodge was the home of the 1946-1949 Packers, though the 1947 and 1948 seasons produced a record of 12-10-1, and 1949 was even worse at 3-9

4.
Duluth Kelleys/Eskimos
–
Duluth, Minnesota, hosted a professional football team called the Kelleys from 1923 to 1925 and renamed as the Eskimos during the two seasons of 1926 and 1927 in the National Football League. After being a team during most of their time as the Eskimos. This meant that Duluth either played unusually short seasons or had to play on the road, duluths best season came in 1924, when the Kelleys went 5–1. Under modern NFL tiebreaking procedures, the Kelleys would have won a share of the NFL title with the league champion Cleveland Bulldogs, the contemporary percentage used to rank teams in the era, wins divided by the sum of wins and losses, put the Kelleys in fourth place. The Kelleys lost their sponsorship in 1926, but signed star running back Ernie Nevers. The team renamed themselves Ernie Neverss Eskimos in response to these developments, the Eskimos joined in on the trend, becoming a traveling team and allowing themselves to play a far longer season than the Kelleys did. After one home game at the beginning of the 1926 season, the team finished in the middle of the NFL standings in 1926, prompting the Eskimos to continue the traveling team setup. In 1927, the results were far more negative, winning one game. When Haugsrud did this, part of the deal gave him first rights for any future NFL team in Minnesota and he passed on buying a stake in the Minneapolis Red Jackets in 1929. However, when the NFL voted to expand in 1960 to the Twin Cities, due to various transactions, the Kelleys/Eskimos have a tenuous link to the modern NFL. Edwin Simandl, a promoter in Orange, New Jersey, bought the franchise for the 1929 season. The NFL, however, did not consider the Tornadoes to be the successors of the Eskimos, the Tornadoes moved to Newark for the 1930 season before going back to the minors. When Simandl handed the rights back to the league, it was understood that the first new expansion team of the 1931 season would receive the Tornadoes old franchise. Because of the Great Depression, no buyer was found, in 1932, a Boston group received the next expansion franchise, strong circumstantial evidence indicates that it was awarded the assets of the failed Tornadoes/Indians organization. This group used it to start the Boston Braves, in 1933, the team was renamed the Redskins, and in 1937 it moved to Washington, D. C. where it still plays as the Washington Redskins. The film Leatherheads is partially based on the story of the Duluth Eskimos and it is unclear if their proposal was ever formally submitted to the NFL. Walt Kiesling John Blood McNally Ernie Nevers

5.
Oorang Indians
–
The Oorang Indians /ˈuːˌræŋ/ were a traveling team in the National Football League from LaRue, Ohio. The franchise was a novelty team put together by Walter Lingo to market his Oorang dog kennels, all of the Indians players were Native American, with Jim Thorpe serving as its leading player and coach. The team played in the National Football League in 1922 and 1923, of the 20 games they played over two seasons, only one was played at home in nearby Marion. With a population well under a thousand people, LaRue remains the smallest town ever to have been the home of an NFL franchise, or probably any professional team in any league in the United States. In 1919 Oorang Kennel owner, Walter Lingo, met and became friends with Jim Thorpe of the Canton Bulldogs, Lingo had had a deep passion for the Airedales, which he raised, and for Native American culture. LaRue, Ohio, was once the site of an old Wyandot village, Thorpe first came to Lingos defense after neighboring farmers accused Lingos Oorang Kennels of raising a nation of sheep killers. Thorpe came to Lingos aid by testifying that he knew an Oorang Airedale that had saved the life of a 6-year-old girl, named Mabel. Afterwards, Lingo and Thorpe became friends and soon began hunting together, in 1921, Lingo invited Thorpe and Pete Calac, who was a teammate of Thorpes at the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, to his plantation in LaRue to hunt for opossum. It was on this trip that the men agreed on a way both to advertise Airedales and to employ Thorpe, whose career was now on the decline, Lingo would purchase a franchise in the young National Football League, and Thorpe would run the team. At the time, the cost of purchasing an NFL franchise was $100, meanwhile, just one of Lingos Airedales sold for $150. Lingo saw the idea of a franchise as a way of touring the countrys leading cities for the purpose of advertising his Airedales. Therefore, he placed two conditions on the team, the first was that Thorpe had to field an all-Indian team. Secondly, Lingo wanted the team to run his kennels in addition to playing football. Thorpe and Calac agreed to both terms, finally, Thorpe would be paid $500 a week to coach, play, and manage the kennels. In June 1922, Lingo, who served as the teams business manager, traveled to Canton, Ohio. He named his team the Oorang Indians, after his kennels, the name stood out to sports and dog fans alike. Lingo originally wanted the team to play out of LaRue, the issue led to the club performing almost exclusively on the road as a traveling team, where it could draw the biggest crowds and best advertise the dogs. However, Thorpe and Lingo also felt that it would be nice to keep the Indians at home once or twice a year, the nearest town with a suitable football field was Marion, Ohio, which served as the location for the Indians home games

6.
History of the Chicago Cardinals
–
The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois. This article chronicles the history during their time as the Chicago Cardinals from 1920 to 1959. In 1898, Chicago painting and building contractor Chris OBrien established an amateur Chicago-based athletic club football team named the Morgan Athletic Club, OBrien later moved them to Chicagos Normal Park and renamed them the Racine Normals, since Normal Park was located on Racine Avenue in Chicago. In 1901, OBrien bought used maroon uniforms from the University of Chicago and it was then that the team changed its name to the Racine Cardinals. The original Racine Cardinals team disbanded in 1906 mostly for lack of local competition, a professional team under the same name formed in 1913, claiming the previous team as part of their history. As was the case for most professional teams in 1918, the team was forced to suspend operations for a second time due to World War I. They resumed operations later in the year, and have operated continuously. At the time of the founding of the modern National Football League, in 1920, the team became a charter member of the American Professional Football Association, for a franchise fee of $100. The person keeping the minutes of the first league meeting, unfamiliar with the nuances of Chicago football, recorded the Cardinals as from Racine, the team was renamed the Chicago Cardinals in 1922 after a team actually from Racine, Wisconsin entered the league. That season the team moved to Comiskey Park, the Staleys and Cardinals played each other twice in 1920 as the Racine Cardinals and the Decatur Staleys, making their rivalry the oldest in the NFL. They split the series, with the team winning in each. In the Cardinals 7-6 victory over the Staleys in their first meeting of the season, each scored a TD on a fumble recovery. The Cardinals defeat of the Staleys proved critical, since George Halass Staleys went on to a 10-1-2 record overall, 5-1-2 in league play. The Akron Pros were the first ever champions, they finished with an 8-0-3 record, 6-0-3 in league play. Since the Pros merely had to tie the game in order to win the title, had the Staleys not lost to the Cardinals, they would have gone into that fateful game with an 11-0-1 record, 6-0-1 in league play. As it was, it all but assured that the Staleys/Bears, in 1922, the Staleys, now renamed the Bears, went 9-3-0, losing to the Cardinals twice. The Bears still edged the Cardinals for 2nd place in the league, in 1923 and 1924, the Bears got the better of the Cardinals all three times the two teams played. But in 1925, the Bears went 0-1-1 against the Cardinals with the tie meaning the Cardinals were only a ½ game in front of the Pottsville Maroons heading into their fateful 1925 showdown